Outdoor Fun Games for School Students

Tag Variations

• Tag is also known as "It" because the kid who gets tagged becomes "It." The classic game of tag merely requires "It" to chase someone else until tagging a new "It." In freeze tag, when a player is tagged, she must freeze in place. Those who are frozen can reach their arms out and tag anyone who gets too close and those players also become frozen. The game is over when "It" has tagged everyone. The only reason the game would end without "It" tagging everyone is if class must resume or a teacher calls the game over.

  Another variation is "duck duck goose," which requires kids to sit in a circle while one walks around tapping everyone on the head and calling each one a duck. But at some point, he taps one and says "goose" instead. That child must stand up and chase the tagger around the circle and tag him back before he takes the open seat.

Rubber Ball Games

• Two popular games can be played with a rubber ball: kickball and four square. Kickball is just like baseball, only batters kick the ball that is rolled toward them like a bowling ball. While running bases, runners can be hit with the ball (akin to dodgeball) and called out. This game requires a large field for play.

  Four square is played on a paved area where four squares have been created by tape. Four players stand in the squares and take turns bouncing a ball into one another's squares as other players watch on the outside of the box. A player who misses a square with a bounce must leave the box and go to the back of a line, and a player waiting to join in takes his spot.

Race Variations

• Elementary school kids love to run around and they have the most room to do so when they're outdoors. Other than basic relay races, there are a lot of games that kids can play that involve racing. "Red light green light" requires that a teacher or referee stand at the goal line of one end of a field and yell "red light" or "green light" as a line of runners progresses toward him. "Green light" means run and "red light" means freeze.

  Potato sack races might or might not involve an actual potato sack for racing. Either way, the idea is to hop forward instead of running.

  A race that requires two kids to work together is the three-legged race, in which they're tied together at an ankle and keep one arm around each other as they run.